Staff Day

Today was a bit of a staff get-together and general relaxation before the craziness of the session starts. We went to the Ming Tomb Reservoir where the triathalon for the 2008 Games were held. We learned a little about competitive kite flying and it was really fun, but the hardest part was just keeping the kites in the air. I have some pictures and I'll try to add them as soon as possible. The Chinese staff as well as the admin here brought a few water guns and soon the whole day just erupted into a massive water fight, much to the delight of a dozen or so Chinese onlookers. After coming home to change, we took a taxi out to the middle of nowhere, the far outskirts of Changping to this beautiful resort area where there was a restaurant open to the public. This resort had a little mini zoo featuring peacocks, wolves, and a few large domestic dogs. The dining room is outside, making it the only restaurant I've ever seen where you can play basketball while waiting for your food. The whole resort was wrapped around the breathtaking mountains and as we were starting to eat, the fiery red sun was just descending beneath two majestic peaks and I heard two of our Chinese staff softly start to sing…
shèng jié, shèng jié, shèng jié, de shì gé xià wàn néng de Shàng Dì....
pretty soon we were able to pick up on the tune and joined in....holy, holy holy is the Lord God Almighty!